For 60 minutes on a football field, the human motor that lies inside DeQuin Evans is always running. Always has been.

“He’s always been active,” said Evans’ mother, Penina Maefau. “I would take him to the park when he was two years old and he would get with the big kids who were trying to play football.

“He was in a walker at five months old and was walking at seven months. I handed him a football that his godfather’s brother gave him when he scored the winning TD in the Carson-Banning game that year.

“Football is in his blood.”

Football is presently giving Evans a chance at a bright future. A number of major Division I schools are lining up to bring the hard-charging Harbor College defensive end to their campus and with good reason. The 21-year-old has given them and hundreds of others plenty to look at.

Evans’ exploits are displayed on the YouTube Web site. Strung together are highlights of the 6-foot-3, 255-pound sophomore terror leaving offensive linemen spinning their heads as he makes a tackle in the backfield.

“The coaches put it together for me and surprised me,” he said. “They told me, `Hey go on YouTube and type in DeQuin Evans.’ I said, `Man, what are you talking about?’ They said just check it out. It was real cool.”

The highlight reel figures to lengthen over time as the Seahawks begin the regular season Saturday night at home against Long Beach City. Evans is coming off a freshman year in which he recorded 14 tackles for losses, including five sacks that earned him second-team All-Western State Conference honors.

The talent was apparent from Day 1.

“You could tell immediately that the kid had a knack for rushing the passer,” said Brett Peabody, Harbor’s veteran offensive coordinator and assistant head coach. “He had the size, the quickness and the range. What he had to learn was the nuances of his position. He did a great job with Coach (Randy) Morris of learning those nuances.

“He’d pin his ears back and just go. He had to learn discipline and learn how to read the schemes. He had to learn the team responsibility of playing your assignment.”

“Motor” is the buzz word that recruiters and football analysts often put on defensive players, particularly lineman and linebackers who constantly pursue the action until the whistle blows. In Evans’ case, he’s been on the go for as long as he can remember.

“Yeah, I’ve always had it,” Evans said. “My mom. I get mad at myself because I don’t know how many gray hairs I gave her as a little kid. I was always an energetic kid. Whatever sport came out, I wanted to play it. And I was real competitive. I couldn’t let the next person try to beat me.”

But that energy wasn’t always channeled the right way.

Early in high school, Evans first got into real trouble for beating up a classmate. “He had some anger management issues,” Maefau acknowledged.

The classroom often became a foreign place. But it was an alcohol-related auto accident, one in which Evans escaped serious injury, that put him firmly on the wrong path.

Instead of becoming a star at Dominguez High, Evans was sent to Camp Kilpatrick in Malibu. A juvenile detention center, Kilpatrick houses medium- to high-risk offenders who serve terms for criminal convictions. It also offers classes of traditional and alternative subjects along with interscholastic athletics, which allowed the chance for the unfocused teenager to find a home back on the field and experience an awakening.

“Being in there really made me get a deep passion for football,” he said. “I can honestly say that is the hardest I’ve ever worked. Oh, it was a huge wake-up call. It was the biggest wake-up call in my life.”

Said Maefau: “I knew he always had it in him. He’s always been a respectful kid. He doesn’t have any tattoos on his body. I told him, if you make it to the NFL, you can get a tattoo. I’ve always believed in him and I told him that you can do better. You can get over this.”

After completing his sentence, Evans took a more serious approach to his studies and finished the remainder of his senior year at Long Beach’s Cabrillo High. But instead of looking for a college to play at, he took a job at a supermarket to help his mother and three siblings.

Football didn’t enter the picture until he ran into a friend, Charles Mitchell, who was playing linebacker at Harbor and wondered why Evans wasn’t using his athletic gifts.

“He said I needed to come play ball with him,” Evans said. “Everybody would also tell me, `Man, why ain’t you playing football?’ I was tired of hearing that all the time. They would say you can be a great tight end. I told myself that I have to get back out here.”

Evans’ freshman season opened many eyes, to the point where scholarship offers have already come from LSU, Oregon and Washington State while Kansas, Kansas State and Fresno State are keeping close tabs on him. To help with his choice of colleges, the lineman plans to bring his cousin, former USC tailback and Long Beach Poly star Hershel Dennis, with him on his recruiting trips.

“It’s truly a blessing,” Evans said of the newfound attention. “I’m happy when I wake up and I just want to get to the football field.

“In a million years, I would have never thought I’d be in the position I’m in today.”

Peabody, who has been at Harbor the last six years, said Evans has turned himself from a raw player who lacked discipline in his first days with the Seahawks to a model community college athlete and a team leader.

“That’s the one thing about him,” the coach said. “Even when he was learning a new position, he was always a team guy. He’s never been a freelancer, a guy who’s out for his own. He’s a total teammate.

“It’s never been about him. He’s come miles in this program.”

Harbor College at a glance

Nickname: Seahawks

Coach: Andrew Alvillar (fifth season, 18-22)

2007 finish: 5-5 (4-3 for fourth-place tie in Western State Conference Mountain Division)

Offense: Since Brett Peabody arrived as offensive coordinator, the Seahawks have regularly aired it out with their no-huddle spread attack but Trudnowski’s conference-high 406 passing attempts and 2,508 yards masked a pedestrian rushing offense. Peabody acknowledges they need more balance and Ford will be counted on to help provide that. Trudnowski also need to improve on his 48.2 completion percentage and touchdown-to-interception ratio (18-to-15). Matthews will replace the departed Bowser as the first option after catching 33 passes for 525 yards last season.

Defense: More consistency is needed. The Seahawks recorded one shutout and allowed 21 points or fewer four times but also gave up 40 or more on three occasions. Overall, they have to improve from 12th in conference. Evans and Phil Tonga anchor a defensive line that is the strength of the team. If they can put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, it’ll open up room for their linebackers to make plays. The secondary could be a concern with Genesis Fonoimoana (seven INTs) currently suspended for disciplinary reasons in addition to the loss of Bryant and Ware but Bogan figures to lead a young unit.

Outlook: With the new statewide realignment that introduces the Southern California Football Association, Harbor will be in the new Mountain Conference of the American Division with Compton, Golden West, Mt. San Jacinto, San Diego Mesa, Southwestern, Victor Valley and San Bernardino Valley. What it means is a real opportunity for the Seahawks to break through now that they don’t have Bakersfield, Canyons or Allan Hancock on the schedule. Only one of the Seahawks’ opponents – Citrus in Week 2 – had a winning record and the combined mark of all 10 teams was 29-69. Another .500 season would be a major disappointment.

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